Management Liability Update

Archive for the ‘Risk Management’ Category

EU Data Breach Notification in 24 Hours?

Icon January 22, 2012 – 11:35 pm

On January 25, 2012, the European Union will announce a comprehensive reform of its data protection rules.  This proposed shift will likely toughen existing data-protection requirements and, according to one published report, will include a new rule requiring companies to disclose data breaches within 24 hours of the breach – in effect leapfrogging the toughest [...]



Third Circuit Agrees Standing is Lacking in Breach Case

Icon January 3, 2012 – 10:09 pm

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Reilly v. Ceridian Corporation, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 24561, 3 (3d Cir., December 12, 2011), found that “allegations of an increased risk of identity theft resulting from a security breach” were insufficient to secure Article III standing.  In so doing, the court affirmed the dismissal of [...]



Mexico City Redux: Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners

Icon November 10, 2011 – 7:09 am

On November 2 – 3, 2011, about 600 persons from around the world attended the 33rd International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.   For those unable to make the trek to Mexico City, what follows is selected insight gained from several folks who attended and were kind enough to report back what was discussed in [...]



First Circuit Rules Hannaford Damages Include ID Theft Insurance and Card Reissuance Fees

Icon October 24, 2011 – 7:35 am

On October 20, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued an opinion reversing a Maine District Court’s dismissal of negligence and implied contract claims against grocer Hannaford Brothers.  The underlying data breach publicly announced on March 17, 2008 by Hannaford led to a consolidated class action that was ultimately rejected in its entirety by the [...]



ZIP Code Litigation Update

Icon September 28, 2011 – 11:16 pm

Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court ruled on the outer reach of a state statute meant to protect consumers during credit card transactions – the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971.  See Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc., 51 Cal. 4th 524 (2011).  Specifically, Song-Beverly precludes retailers from requesting and recording a customer’s “personal identification [...]



Anonymous Supports September 17 Efforts

Icon September 14, 2011 – 9:23 pm

On August 23, 2011, Anonymous released a video endorsing the September 17, 2011 planned “Day of Rage” occupation of Wall Street and other financial areas around the world.   Specifically, in its video, Anonymous urges protesters on September 17th to “flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for [...]



Ponemon Second Annual Cost of Cybercrime Study

Icon August 17, 2011 – 7:33 am

A detailed study regarding the impact of cybercrime on corporations was recently released by the Ponemon Institute.  According to the Second Annual Cost of Cyber Crime Study, the median annualized cost of cybercrime incurred by a benchmark sampling of organizations was $5.9 million per year, with a range of $1.5 million to $36.5 million each [...]



NJ Court Rules No Privacy Tort Exists for Location Tracking

Icon July 9, 2011 – 8:22 am

In what may be a case of first impression, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled, on July 7, 2011, that the tort of invasion of privacy does not necessarily exist whenever a plaintiff alleges surreptitious location tracking by a defendant.  Specifically, the court ruled: We hold that the placement of a GPS device in plaintiff’s [...]



Betterley Report on Cyber Insurance is Now Available

Icon July 5, 2011 – 6:47 am

The highly-anticipated annual Betterley Report on cyber insurance was released right before the 4th of July holiday weekend.  In the free summary of the issue, there is mention of the 29 insurers now providing some form of network security and privacy insurance.  Betterley projects the existing market to be in the $800 million range — [...]



Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Wal-Mart

Icon June 20, 2011 – 11:35 pm

In a widely anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court today unanimously reversed a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that allowed a class action to go forward against Wal-Mart.   And, in its majority ruling, the Court found that the action should be completely dismissed given that plaintiffs could not ultimately overcome [...]